In Laos, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh meets with a Chinese colleague. On Wednesday, Rajnath Singh commenced his three-day trip to Vientiane, mainly to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ summit Plus (ADMM-Plus) summit.In negotiations with his Chinese colleague Dong Jun, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for learning from the “unfortunate border clashes” of 2020. On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, India and China agreed to work towards a path for restoring mutual confidence and understanding.
The two defense ministers met in Laos’ capital, Vientiane, weeks after Chinese and Indian forces had finished withdrawing their forces from the two final battlegrounds in eastern Ladakh.
According to the Defense Ministry, the parties decided to collaborate in order to develop a plan for restoring mutual respect and understanding.According to the report, Mr. Singh emphasized during the delegation-level discussions that good relations between China and India will benefit world peace and prosperity.
He stated that “we need to focus on cooperation rather than conflict” because both nations are and will be neighbors, the statement read.
According to a statement from the ministry, Mr. Singh urged people to consider the lessons learned from the regrettable border clashes of 2020, take action to stop them from happening again, and protect peace and serenity along the India-China border.
He emphasized the importance of de-escalation in fostering more trust and confidence between the two parties. It further stated that all parties had committed to cooperating to develop a plan for restoring mutual respect and understanding.
A gathering of the 10-nation ASEAN organization and some of its conversation partners preceded the Singh-Dong meeting.
Following a series of negotiations to end the smoldering border dispute, the Indian and Chinese forces concluded the disengagement exercise between Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh late last month.
After nearly four and a half years, the two sides also started monitoring the two territories again.
Singh arrived in Vientiane on Wednesday for the first day of his three-day tour, mainly to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus).
The ten-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its eight conversation partners—India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States—form the platform known as ADMM-Plus. As the current chair of ADMM-Plus, Laos is hosting the meeting.
In the first high-level meeting since the two sides’ armies withdrew from Demchok and Depsang, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met at the delegation level on Monday in Rio de Janeiro as part of the G20 Summit.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the two ministers believed it was essential that the emphasis be on resolving disagreements, stabilizing relationships, and moving forward.
Defense Perspective
On the fringes of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus), Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun met on November 20, 2024, in Vientiane, Laos. After years of tense relations brought on by border disputes, this was the first in-person meeting between the two ministers since recent disengagement agreements intended to ease military tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The talks mostly centered on the present state of affairs at the LAC and the future course of India-China ties, the Ministry of Defense said in an official statement released on Wednesday. Minister Singh clarified that the two countries’ cordial relations, which are significant and powerful on the international scene, would have far-reaching.
The necessity of preventing the recurrence of violent border skirmishes, like those that took place in 2020 and resulted in losses on both sides, was one of the main subjects. Singh emphasized the lessons learned from past conflicts and urged both nations to take concrete measures to stop future occurrences of the same kind. The Indian Defense Minister stated that he firmly believed that ongoing de-escalation measures near the border may lead to a stronger development of trust between the two sides. China and India agreed to develop a plan to gradually ease military tensions and restore mutual understanding.
